SCOTUS ruling ups pressure on Schumer to strike climate deal with Manchin
The Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to dramatically limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions of power plants puts new pressure on Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to strike a climate deal with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). The conservative court’s 6-3 decision in West Virginia v. EPA strikes a blow to President Biden’s climate agenda and has Democrats and activists scrambling to salvage Biden’s pledge to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 50 percent by 2030. The setback places re
Read MoreWest Coast port dispute poses latest threat to supply chain
A labor contract between shipping companies and West Coast port workers is set to expire Friday, raising fears of a walkout that could exacerbate supply chain disruptions and product shortages. Both sides have maintained that port workers will continue to process cargo even after the deadline to agree to a new contract passes. Retailers, manufacturers and farmers warn that any kind of work stoppage, which would halt the flow of cargo, would rattle the U.S. economy, which is already beset by rampant inflation and a struggling stock market. “It wouldn't take very long for
Read MoreHouse negotiators advance final appropriations bills
House negotiators have advanced spending bills worth more than $1 trillion for the coming fiscal year as the chamber’s leadership seeks to put a bow on its messy appropriations work. The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved two fiscal year 2023 funding bills that cover the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD). They were the final two of 12 annual government funding bills to pass out of the committee this year and their passage capped off weeks of partisan battles over how the government should
Read MoreHong Kong 25 years later: Why it matters for the US
The fight for Hong Kong’s autonomy faces a grim future on the 25th anniversary of the territory’s handover back to China from the United Kingdom. What began on July 1, 1997 as a bold experiment seeking to bring the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) more toward Western, liberal democracies has instead served as a hard lesson in Beijing’s single-minded pursuit of total control. There are few options for President Biden and Congress to support reversing Beijing’s rollbacks on the democratic freedoms, capitalist economy and rule of law in Hong Kong. Its supporter
Read MoreThe Memo: Biden leans into abortion fight
President Biden is injecting new vigor into the fight to protect abortion rights, seemingly nudged into action by criticism from within his own party about a lackluster response to date. Biden branded the Supreme Court’s decision last week to strike down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling as “outrageous” and “destabilizing” during a Thursday news conference in Madrid. More importantly, he declared
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